The Critical Need for Education

Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge genocide killed over 1.5 million Cambodian people during its regime from 1975-1979. Eliminating about 1 out of 4 people, it targeted educated people, and destroyed much of the country's resources, including schools.

Today, nearly 40 years later, Cambodia is still suffering from a lack of an educated populace, particularly in rural areas.

The Caramanico School is a small, targeted step being taken to rectify the serious gaps of the education system in the rural area of Ratanakiri. This province has one of the highest illiteracy rates in all of Cambodia, and also ranks among the poorest, where people live on less than $2 a day. The Caramanico School is only one of a handful of lower secondary schools in the entire province. Presently about 150 students attend school, but only a fraction of them are able to attend regularly due to travel constraints, family demands, and other issues.